“The Zone” is that mythical place where one can do no wrong. When you are in the zone, you play with ease and with confidence. The zone consists of five elements:
When I prepare one of my players for a tennis tournament, we get them into the zone about a week before the opening round. Here is what we do:
1. About 10 days before the tournament, we get them to clear away all social, family and work obligations as much as possible. We want them to be stress-free and undistracted.
2. We then ask them to taper off practice and to make no swing or equipment changes. Swing changes at this point are usually counterproductive.
3. I remind them of all their accomplishments to build confidence.
4. I give them a quick course game strategy.
5. We establish realistic expectations.
6. We keep the tournament in perspective and do not exaggerate its importance.
Try this and you too will find “The Zone.”
Dr. Tom Ferraro
Sport Psychologist
Dr. Tom Ferraro is a pioneer in the field of depth sport psychology and his work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The London Times. He has appeared on all the major television networks and his books, are published by Routledge and can be found through Amazon and a variety of other major book distributors. He can be reached at drtferraro@aol.com.Â
